Have you guys been reading about Rene Redzepi and his inspiring restaurant Noma? I was wowed by his enviable foraging and thoughtful approach to food in this New Yorker article. Then, when I saw Bon Appetit's piece on the home-cooked meal he and his wife made for David Chang, I knew their Walnut Cake recipe was one I needed to try.

Nuts are essential to our pantry. Give us pistachios, pecans, pine nuts, marcona almonds and we'll toss them into salads, porridge, and pastas. And of course nuts are a quick and easy snack any old time. Whenever I stumble upon an interesting recipe that bakes with nuts, I feel compelled to give it a go and am rarely disappointed.

We noshed on Redzepi's cake for days. It works not just for dessert, but also for a nice tea, or even breakfast. Topped with a dollop of whipped cream, a few berries, or a smear of Kumquat Marmalade, this nutty cake made me extremely happy!

Notes: Keep in mind that this recipe feeds quite a crowd - considering the richness of the ingredients, a little slice is all you need. Next time, I'll try cutting the recipe in half.

*Also I have been trying to avoid most sugars lately, thus I have adapted the recipe to use honey and coconut sugar - both great flavors that worked really well with the walnuts.

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare your 13x9x2 inch baking pan by sprinkling 3 tablespoons of coconut sugar evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

Coarsely chop 2 cups of walnuts in a food processor. Set aside.

Coarsely chop the remaining 5 cups of walnuts in the food processor. Add the flour and pulse the processor until the nuts are finely grounds. Add almond meal. Pulse to combine.

In another large mixing bowl (your Kitchen Aid Mixer, if you have one) beat butter and honey together for a few minutes until light and fluffy. Add eggs, cream, yogurt, salt, and vanilla and mix ingredients until well blended - another minute or so.

58 comments:

Divine! I desperately want to give this one a try (maybe in a loaf pan as a sort of breakfast bread).

Actually, I was thinking of your kumquat marmalade this morning when I picked up a gorgeous little kumquat and walnut upside down cake at Sweet Adeline's. Bet that marmalade would be fabulous spread on your walnut cake.

Now I'm inspired to hit the kitchen for the day. If only! Maybe this weekend. :)

If only I lived a few growing zones warmer, I'd be able to grow an orchard full of nut trees, or I suppose just hunt for them in the wild. How wonderful it would be! I agree with that article, foraging is indeed a treasure hunt - and one at which you always win, if you know where to look!

M, Can you believe that... 7 cups. If you go organic like I do, the cake gets pretty pricy. But I think it would be great for a big party. It can easily feed a couple dozen people. And it's really simple. I think the recipe is a fun base to play around with.

Oh, just lovely Erin. I think you and I are continuing to travel in the same food craving circles. I love a simple cake more than any other sweet. We've been watching so many BBC Masterpiece Classics and they always have such simple earthy cakes that they serve. Like you, we've had enough for afternoon snack ALL week.

Sarah, I know... when I saw your beautiful gateau today I knew we were on the same page once again. I think the molasses you used could be really nice in this recipe too. And I am so loving Downton Abbey - it's addictive!

What a fantastic looking cake. I love nuts too, so this is one to try. I also love your use of coconut sugar. I've been wanting to give it a try for a while now, so this might be the recipe to introduce me.

What a beautiful cake! I can imagine that it would be quite delish yet very dense and packed with flavor. I can understand why you would cut the recipe in half. With that yummy marmalade you made, this is a winner! Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!

How beautiful! I can understand how this would be incredibly rich, but it sounds absolutely delicious and is super unique. I like the suggestion to serve it cold despite the fact that I've never had it. Somehow I feel I can imagine the texture :P

Anyway, I need to get my hands on some walnuts ASAP. I wonder if this would work with peanuts... Might give it a go :D

Kaitlin, isn't that interesting to serve it cold. I tried it both warm and cold and enjoyed both. I'm not so sure it would work with peanuts, but hazelnuts or more almonds might be great. If you do try peanuts, I'd love to hear about the results:)

Gorgeous! I finally read through Bon Appetit's March issue while traveling this weekend (and then I read it again and again). So much inspiration! I'm eager to try substituting pecans for the walnuts and I'm excited that you used honey instead of sugar with success. Yes!

Hi Erin, I'm going to try this soon! I also use coconut sugar here for a lot of baking and raw desserts too. This post is close to my heart as Mark and I had our wedding lunch at Noma in 2004 when we got married in Copenhagen. The resturant had been open only 3 months and were literally the only customers there, us and two friends, outside table on the harbour and it was divine!

I was completely smitten by that article in Bon Appetit. I've been eyeing this walnut cake for weeks, and keep reminding myself that I need to stock up on walnuts so I can make it...I was also fascinated to learn that he and his family primarily eat vegetarian-driven meals (for some reason, when I think of Noma I think of serious meat-eating!). Lovely post and photos!

Kasey, I loved that Bon Appetit story too! Didn't you just wish you were at the table with them? I have to say, I can get behind that whole vegetarian-driven meal thing. We are eating so much less meat around here and I'm really enjoying hearty veggie dinners. Even my kids are okay skipping meat quite often. Though we did just scarf pork chops tonight:)-E

oh hey i hope i'm not too late to this discussion!i've been scouring the net for walnut flour cake recipes, and this looks like the one for me. i have some rum soaked cherries i want to use eventually to make into a fruit cake, i can't wait now to start experimenting